ADELANTO — To avoid a temporary water shortage, city officials this week approved an emergency contract for $265,300 to fix a 400-foot well.

Two wells owned by the Adelanto Public Utility Authority were downed within the past year and the city was forced to use an agreement with the Victorville Water District last week in order to meet its customer demand, Adelanto Director of Public Utilities Thomas Thornton said.

“It’s serious in the sense that we only have so many wells we have available to us,” Thornton said. “With hot weather it’s hard to keep up with demand and keep tanks full.”

Well 32G is expected to be repaired in about six weeks and incurred casing damage at its base, according to city records. Thornton said a video camera was used to discover the issues. The well is a heavy producer and was originally drilled in 2004.

Another supplemental well was recently shut down due to failing a routine bacteria sample test. The well was isolated, chlorinated, flushed out, and later brought back online, Thornton said.

The contract for $265,300 was approved Wednesday by the Adelanto City Council, which also serves as the APUA governing body on Wednesday.

While the water situation has become seemingly dire, Thornton said Adelanto’s agreements with Victorville and the Mojave Water Agency mean the city will never run out of water.

“The issue is these sources can be fairly expensive so we try to avoid using these resources as much as we can,” Thornton said.

Brooke Self may be reached at 760-951-6232 or BSelf@VVDailyPress.com. You can also follow her on Twitter at @BrookeSelf.